Archive for the ‘SUCHTHAUS’ Category

Norway’s SUCHTHAUS, the band that defies genre type casting and for whom visuals play as big a role as the music itself, has released a tribute to the iconic Black Metal band MAYHEM, in the form of a video cover of the track “Life Eternal” from what is probably MAYHEM’s most famous album, 1994’s “De Misteriis Dom Sathanas”. The cover features SUCHTHAUS members Spacebrain on vocals, Ingvar the Last Viking on guitars, Fruen on the organ, and Hellhammer, who is of course himself one of the original members of MAYHEM, on drums. The video can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/44AbpTyWWiU

Whilst it may not come as a surprise that a band has recorded a MAYHEM cover, it is, in this case, more appropriate than the usual run of the mill tribute, given that SUCHTHAUS founder SPACEBRAIN, is the man behind many of MAYHEM’s most recognisable stage sets. A renowned sculptor, as well as a musician, SPACEBRAIN had this to say about the tribute:

“Mayhem has survived hell for 30 years, and I was fortunate to play a part during a few of those years, touring through Europe with the art of SPACEBRAIN from 2000-2006. This is a period of my life I will never forget, neither the good nor the bad experiences, and therefore SUCHTHAUS decided to put in some hard work to try to recreate the soundtrack that got stuck in my head: “Life Eternal”. It´s far from a straight cover, but our vision was a way of thanking the men who let me be a part of their life (in alphabetical order) Atilla, Blasphemer, Hellhammer, Maniac, Necrobutcher”.

SUCHTHAUS is currently working putting the finishing touches on the band’s sophomore album “Motorbrain”, which, once finished, will be released on SUCHTHAUS’ own label Rollabigone. Guests on the album incude SHINING founder and frontman Niklas Kvarforth.

“Motorbrain” will be the follow up to SUCHTHAUS’ debut album “The Dark Side and the Bright Side”, which included collaborations from musicians such as Maniac (SKITLIV, ex-MAYHEM), CURRENT 93’s David Tibet, Fredrik A. Juell (BURNING RUBBER, BERSERK BASTARDS) and singer Sibob Jawara, and showed clearly how difficult it is to squeeze the band into any particular genre. Whilst “Motorbrain” promises to be a much more “metal” album, it will definitely not be a “straight up” metal album, and the band is at pains to point out that it does not reflect any direction that they have any intention of following in the future.

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“I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”, a new video from SUCHTHAUS, the band formed by sculptor Spacebrain, and for whom imagery is an integral aspect of their music, has just been released. Featured in the video are Spacebrain’s daughter and her boyfriend, along with Petter Pogo, the bass player with one of Norway’s most popular pop bands JOKKE AND VALENTINERNE, as well as SUCHTHAUS members Fruen and Ingvar, and Spacebrain himself . Filmed entirely in the hallway of Spacebrain’s home in Oslo, the video gives a claustrophobic and disturbing view of religion. “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” can be seen below and at http://youtu.be/Ipzm-R71a9E

Work is nearing completion on SUCHTHAUS’ sophomore album “Motorbrain”, which, according to the band, is a pure metal album, but one that focuses on different nuances within the genre. Drums on the album are by MAYHEM’s Hellhammer, who originally contributed as a session drummer, but has now joined Spacebrain (vocals and bass), co-founder Fruen (vocals and guitars) Ingvar (guitars) and AD/HD (bass) as a full-time member of the band. Currently undergoing mastering, “Motorbrain”, which includes a guest appearance by SHINING’s Niklas Kvarforth, will be released on SUCHTHAUS’ own label Rollabigone on a date as yet to be announced. .

German born Spacebrain, who has lived in Norway for many years, is known not only for his sculptures, but also for his iconic stage sets for bands such as MAYHEM, recently decided to move his workshop to France so that he could once again work on his sculpting. “It is prohibitively expensive to buy or rent a space large enough in Norway to house a workshop, especially for the size of some of the sculptures I produce, so we found a farm off the beaten track in Brittany, where I can once again find the peace and energy I need for my art. We will still be living in Norway, so SUCHTHAUS will not be affected, but we will be travelling to Brittany regularly, and spending most of the summers there. The place needs a fair amount of work on it, but it’s just the kind of place I need to kick start my sculpting again”. Examples of Spacebrain’s art can be seen on his website at http://www.spacebrain.no/index.html

SUCHTHAUS’ music is not easily categorised, in fact, it’s impossible to pigeon hole it, which is exactly how the band wants it, because it gives them free rein to create whatever kind of music they want, without being hobbled by preconceptions and genre restrictions. The band’s debut album “The Dark Side and the Bright Side”, which included collaborations from musicians such Maniac (SKITLIV, ex-MAYHEM), CURRENT 93’s David Tibet, Fredrik A. Juell (BURNING RUBBER, BERSERK BASTARDS) and singer Sibob Jawara was a clear illustration of how eclectic the band really is. As far as “Motorbrain’s” “metal” orientation goes, it’s not likely to be a direction that the band has any intention of following in the future. As Spacebrain says ” I feel this is our contribution to metal, the next album has to be different, as this darkness is twisting my mind. Maybe a hippie project would be more kind to my soul?”

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When sculptor Spacebrain released “The Dark Side and the Bright Side”, the debut album from his SUCHTHAUS project, in 2011, it was immediately apparent that not only was the music he produced eclectic, but so too were his collaborators, ranging from Maniac (SKITLIV, ex-Mayhem) to CURRENT 93’s David Tibet, Fredrik A. Juell (BURNING RUBBER, BERSERK BASTARDS) and singer Sibob Jawara. Now, with the band’s sophomore album “Motorbrain” taking shape, it seems that the tradition is set to continue, when SHINING’s Niklas Kvarforth dropped by Spacebrain’s Oslo home recently to check in with his old friends, and ended up contributing vocals on one of the new tracks, which also showcases a performance by SUCHTHAUS drummer Hellhammer (MAYHEM). Since Spacebrain likes to “visualise” the band’s music as well, a video for the track, which is titled “Walls of Berlin”, was filmed on the spur of the moment, and can be seen below and at http://youtu.be/k–Wu4DWeQM

To try and classify SUCHTHAUS’ music is virtually impossible, since the musicians concerned work in a completely unstructured way, drawing on their mood at the time to take the ideas for each track forward, rather than writing set pieces. And, as previously mentioned, each track is enhanced by video, a practice which is unsurprising coming from a musician who started his career as a visual artist. Commenting on the new album, Spacebrain had this to say: “Motorbrain” will be totally different from our debut, “The Dark Side and the Bright Side”, as this time we will be making a pure metal album, but one that focuses on different nuances within the genre. Let’s just say that when we had a band meeting recently we concluded that we’d better hurry up and finish this album because the darker material was not good for our mental health!” Along with Spacebrain on vocals and bass, and Hellhammer on drums, SUCHTHAUS lineup includes co-founder Fruen on vocals and guitars, Ingvar on guitars and AD/HD on bass.

Explaining how his unexpected contribution to “Motorbrain” came about Niklas Kvarforth said: “Last weekend, Hoest (TAAKE) and I were on our way to a studio outside Oslo to do some recording for a project we’re both involved in. We did however have a few hours to kill in the capital before catching our train and ended up meeting some old friends of ours – an evening which unexpectedly resulted in additional recordings in the living room of former SKITLIV bassist Spacebrain for his upcoming SUCHTHAUS album. Spacey filmed some of it, which kinda bothered me at first, but for him… I owe him way more than that. Looking forward to hearing the result.”

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Whilst not known for actually naming any of their tracks, SUCHTHAUS, the brainchild of sculptor and stage designer Spacebrain, have released a video of a track from the band’s debut album “The Dark Side and the Bright Side”, which they have called “DownTown Train”. The track itself features SKITLIV’s Maniac both on vocals and in the video itself, and it is the first time that the legendary frontman has appeared on a track with his former MAYHEM colleague Hellhammer since splitting with the band several years ago and forming SKITLIV. The “DownTown Train” video, which is directed and produced by Spacebrain and features Maniac as the Jesus-loving white trash main character can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOZ_8rvYF5k and below.

Commenting on the track itself and on the video Spacebrain, who has largely left behind his days as a sculptor to create music which is then visualised through video, had this to say: “The track started out with me on guitars and bass, which I multi tracked. I played it to my old friend Maniac and he liked it the moment he heard it, so much so, in fact, that he agreed to perform guest vocals on the track, and within 15 minutes of hearing it he’d written the lyrics. We decided to add some drums, but finding a drummer within our circle of acquaintances who was available and could follow the complex jazz beat we wanted wasn’t easy. In the end we realised that Hellhammer was probably the only drummer up to the task. On this occasion Hellhammer used none of the triggers and gadgets he would normally have used and recorded it on the kind of drum kit that LED ZEPPLIN’s John Bonham used, which gave his playing a much jazzier feel. He recorded his part in one take, after which Hellhammer and SUCHTHAUS decided to work more closely together in the future”.

SUCHTHAUS itself is formed of the nucleus of Spacebrain and Fruen, with a fluid line up that varies as the fancy takes them, whilst the list of guests and collaborators on “The Dark Side and the Bright Side”, which was released in December of last year on Rollabigone Records, is as eclectic as the band itself. Aside from Maniac and Hellhammer, you will find CURRENT 93’s David Tibet, Ingvar Magnusson of SKITLIV, Fredrik A. Juell of BURNING RUBBER and BERSERK BASTARDS, and Sibob Jawara who has sung the world-over but had never used a microphone before recording with SUCHTHAUS.

According to Spacebrain SUCHTHAUS is “a reflection of our own musical preferences and you can’t therefore squeeze it into some particular genre. Every track on “The Dark Side and the Bright Side” has its own individual character – the atmosphere changing with our mood and the amount of drugs and alcohol we consume while we’re making the sounds and it varies from the very dark to the very bright. Most tracks are an experiment with sounds, and we start each one with no plan or idea of where the piece will lead us. Some tracks are made as a one man project; others have 7-8 contributors. The best way to describe what we do is that instead of making visual sculptures, we try to make sound sculptures, although we do visualize them with the help of videos”. More information about SUCHTHAUS can be found at http://www.suchthaus.no

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Perhaps until now better known as the sculptor whose extraordinary work graced the stage and album covers for bands such as MAYHEM, Spacebrain is set to launch the debut album from his band SUCHTHAUS with a show at his own music venue the Spacebunker in Oslo, Norway, on the 17th December. Whilst the event is a celebration of the release of “The Dark Side and the Bright Side”, it also marks the closure of the unique venue itself, where the audiences mingled and the bands played amongst Spacebrain’s sculptures. Spacebrain himself has now confirmed that he no longer intends to continue with his sculpting, but will instead concentrate on his music and SUCHTHAUS, so this will probably be the last time that his sculptures and stage sets are on display together in one place.

The 14-track album, which comes in at just over 72 minutes in length and is released on Spacebrain’s own label Rollabigone Records on the 17th December, has all the trademarks of Spacebrain’s perspective as a visual artist. He is insistent that the band is given no genre label, and that the tracks bear no names so that the listeners come to them with no preconceptions and can form their own opinions. SUCHTHAUS itself is formed of the nucleus of Spacebrain and Fruen, with a fluid line up that varies as the fancy takes them, whilst the list of guests on the album is as eclectic as the band itself with, amongst others, SKITLIV and former MAYHEM frontman Maniac, MAYHEM drummer Jan Axel Blomberg , CURRENT 93’s David Tibet, Ingvar Magnusson of SKITLIV, Fredrik A. Juell of BURNING RUBBER and BERSERK BASTARDS, and Sibob Jawara who has sung the world-over but has never used a microphone before recording with SUCHTHAUS. It is certainly worth noting that this will be the first time that Maniac and Blomberg appear together on an album since the vocalist quit MAYHEM several years ago. As to which tracks feature which guests, well, the band prefers it if the listeners reach their own conclusions.

Commenting on his decision to move away from sculpting to concentrate of music, Spacebrain had this to say “I’d reached the point where it was becoming impractical for me to continue to work with the metal and other heavy materials that I was using for my sculptures. First of all I’m not as young as I used to be, and the work was physically very taxing, and secondly and probably more importantly, finding premises in Oslo that could house the size of work that I was producing had become virtually impossible. With the building that houses the Spacebunker due for demolition, it was the right time for me to change direction. After all, music and performance has always been an integral part of what I do, and art is art, whatever form it takes, so it’s not as big a leap as it might at first appear”.

“SUCHTHAUS” he continues “is a reflection of our own musical preferences and you can’t therefore squeeze it into some particular genre. Every track on “The Dark Side and the Bright Side” has its own individual character – the atmosphere changing with our mood and the amount of drugs and alcohol we consume while we’re making the sounds, and varies from the very dark to the very bright. Most tracks are an experiment with sounds, and we start each one with no plan or idea of where the piece will lead us. Some tracks are made as a one man project; others have 7-8 contributors. The best way to describe what we do is that instead of making visual sculptures, we try to make sound sculptures, although we do visualize them with the help of videos”. More information about SUCHTHAUS can be found at http://www.myspace.com/suchthaus

Below you can see the official video teaser for “The Dark Side and the Bright Side”